The Labor party is taking advantage of the splintered opposition to make a renewed appeal to English speakers in Israel, Anglo File learned this week. With the launching of a new English language lecture series later this month, Labor activists are hoping to appeal to a community that they say has traditionally steered clear of left-wing party politics, despite the fact that many of its members do vote for left wing parties.
"There is a large untapped left-wing Anglo base that needs organizations and we want to get them involved," Guy Spigelman, the Australian-born editor of the party's English language Internet newsletter said this week. "The political environment has changed, Likud is divided, and they've voted against what the majority of the country wants. This is our chance to show people what Labor has to offer."
The first lecture in the series, which will take place at Labor headquarters in Tel Aviv on March 16, will include presentations by MK Isaac Herzog and MK Colette Avital - two Labor politicians who Spigelman says have expressed particular interest in the Anglo community. Participants will be able to address issues of concern to the MKs in English and the party's new platform, which they adopted earlier this year, will be distributed in English as well. Revival, the Internet newsletter that Spigelman edits, will meanwhile become a regular monthly publication, also later this month.
Spigelman, who immigrated from Sydney 10 years ago, is convinced that activities such as these, however under-funded, will tap into what he sees as a potential gold mine of left-wing Anglo activists. The significant Anglo presence in the country's political right isn't indicative of a larger trend among English-speakers here, he insists; they're just "more vocal" than their left-leaning counterparts.
"There are many Anglos who are involved in social and environmental issues, but they tend to shy away from the heart of Israeli politics," Spigelman explained. "We need to decide that we are here, that we have no other choice, and that we need to get involved in the governmental system. That's where decisions are made and if we're not there, then what we're doing in other organizations won't matter."
Social organizations are important, he later added, but only once "a fantastic political system and a strong democratic government
that is serving the best interest of the people" is in place.
Spigelman is eager to mobilize the Anglo community because of their potential for "qualitative, rather than quantitative" contributions. English-speakers have an ability to connect with Labor officials from their native countries, and Spigelman, who is himself an aspiring Labor MK, is in close contact with his political counterparts in Australia. Israel's leading western critics have been traditionally from the left, he notes, and connections with those officials can only have positive effects on Israel's standing in the international community.
Right wing Anglos, in the meantime, are regarding this new Labor initiative with weathered skepticism. "The left has certainly tried [to appeal to English-speakers] in the past but they haven't succeeded so far, and so I don't know why they will now," American-born Ruthie Lieberman, a former aide to Benny Begin said. "I know Anglo people who vote left, but most of them just shrug their shoulders and vote that way because they don't like the right."
But Spigelman isn't convinced. "We need a grassroots initiative to get people involved in the decision-making process and in policy," he said. "Slowly, slowly, we will get there."
